Ch.86 Escape

It took Uchiha Shinji a long time to finally calm the woman down.

Not only had her body been severely abused, but her mind was also on the verge of collapse. Her only emotional support seemed to be the set of clothes she tightly held, which belonged to Karin.

So, Shinji had to be careful not to push her too hard, or it might backfire.

Once the woman's emotions had settled a bit, he quietly activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, putting her into a deep sleep.

"Sigh..."

Shinji let out a sigh.

Given the woman's current physical condition, there was no way she could survive long enough for Karin to complete her mission and return to Hidden Grass. This alone showed that Hidden Grass had never considered her or Karin as one of their own. They had no intention of letting them live.

Clearly, Hidden Grass plan was to use Karin's mother to control Karin and have her complete her mission. Once Karin successfully stole the Nine-Tails, they would extract it from her and ensure that she, as a defected jinchūriki from the Hidden Leaf, would quietly disappear.

That way, Hidden Grass would obtain the Nine-Tails without ever having to confront the Hidden Leaf directly.

The only loss for Hidden Grass would be the lives of two outsiders.

Shinji felt a strong urge to activate Susanoo Tomoshibi and wreak havoc in Hidden Grass, turning the place upside down and punishing these despicable people.

But he knew that doing so could lead to consequences far beyond his control.

If things escalated and Karin's role as a Hidden Grass spy was exposed, her fate would be uncertain, especially since she had once been coerced into helping assassinate Naruto.

If her identity were revealed, it wouldn't take long for the Hidden Leaf to discover her involvement.

And in her mother's current frail state, she couldn't handle any further chaos.

"It's best to fake an accident and make Hidden Grass believe Karin's mother is dead. That way, she can escape and live a peaceful life."

With that thought in mind, Shinji devised a plan.

After a while, someone knocked on the door again.

Shinji opened it, letting the person inside.

"Daisuke, you're back from your mission?" The man greeted "Daisuke" (Shinji in disguise) as he walked in, then curiously asked, "Where's the woman?"

Without warning, Shinji threw a punch.

Bam.

With a dull thud, the punch sent the Hidden Grass crashing through the wooden door, out of the house.

Before he could react, Shinji pounced on him, straddling him and throwing punch after punch while shouting, "You bastard, how dare you humiliate me!"

The Grass shinobi finally realized what was happening and kicked Shinji off him, roaring in anger, "Daisuke, are you crazy?"

"You pushed me too far!"

Shinji pulled out a kunai and lunged at him.

Seeing Shinji draw a kunai, the Grass shinobi didn't hesitate and pulled out his own kunai to fight back.

The fight soon attracted a crowd of onlookers.

But seeing the intensity of the battle and how the two seemed to be fighting for real, no one dared to intervene.

Just then, Shinji pulled out a string of explosive tags from his pouch and shouted, "I'll take you down with me!"

The crowd immediately panicked and started fleeing in all directions.

The Grass shinobi, who had been consumed by rage moments before, suddenly sobered up. Realizing that the "Daisuke" in front of him was acting strangely, he began to say, "Wait, sto—"

But before he could finish his sentence, a massive explosion engulfed him, along with several nearby houses, in a chain of fiery blasts.

In the distant forest.

Standing on a tree branch, Shinji watched as the blaze illuminated the night sky over Hidden Grass, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "A shinobi brawl causing collateral damage. Sounds perfect!"

He then leaped down from the tree and landed on the ground.

Karin's mother lay asleep against a tree, while Coalball was beside her, treating her external wounds.

Seeing Shinji return, Coalball quickly reported, "It's no good, my medical ninjutsu isn't working on her injuries!"

Shinji looked at Karin's mother, her face pale and weary. "Her condition is due to severe overexertion. Compared to her own yang-type chakra, the quality of our yang-type chakra is far inferior. That's why we can't help her."

Coalball clicked his tongue in disbelief.

Someone with such a special yang-type chakra being overdrawn to this extent—he was starting to question everything.

"Let's go."

Shinji moved forward, lifting the unconscious Karin's mother over his shoulder.

Earlier, to ensure that Karin's mother's house was completely destroyed and no traces were left, Shinji had left all his explosive tags with a shadow clone. The clone then deliberately started a fight outside Karin's mother's house, triggering the tags and causing a massive explosion.

He had successfully staged a shinobi clash.

Afterward, he silenced the Hidden Grass Chūnin, Daisuke, whom he had captured earlier.

Now, with multiple witnesses attesting to the cause of the explosion and no evidence remaining due to the destruction, Hidden Grass was unlikely to pursue the matter seriously. They never cared much for Karin's mother anyway.

This way, Karin's mother could fake her death and escape, finally getting the peaceful life she had always longed for.

Of course, Hidden Grass would undoubtedly continue to deceive Karin, using her mother's supposed life as leverage to control her.

Since Karin was in the Hidden Leaf, there was no way for her to verify her mother's fate, and by the time she returned to Hidden Grass, her mission would likely be complete.

At that point, Hidden Grass would eliminate Karin as well.

After traveling for several miles away from Hidden Grass, Shinji found a secluded spot and gently woke up Karin's mother. He activated his dojutsu once more, diving into her subconscious.

Karin's mother was incredibly weak at this point, both physically and mentally.

After much consideration, Shinji decided to use his dojutsu to seal away the painful memories from her time in Hidden Grass, relieving her of the emotional burden.

Using his Mangekyō Sharingan, he sealed away most of her memories of her time in Hidden Grass and fabricated new ones.

In these false memories, she and Karin had left Hidden Grass and met Jiraiya, who was wandering the lands. She entrusted Jiraiya to take Karin to the Hidden Leaf, where she became a true shinobi.

After completing this, Shinji formed hand signs and created a shadow clone.

He needed to return to the Hidden Leaf before sunrise, so his shadow clone would escort Karin's mother to a safe town in the Land of Fire where she could live peacefully.

Fortunately, Karin's mother no longer had the distinctive red hair of the Uzumaki clan, so there was no need to worry about anyone recognizing her true identity.